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The Bristol Aero Collection Trust has been awarded £4.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to build a new aerospace centre at Filton Airfield. As well as being used as a museum, the centre will also provide a permanent home for Concorde 216 - the last plane of its kind to be assembled at the Filton site.

Concorde 216 arrives back at Filton after its last flight, 2003. Credit: PA

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the last-ever flight of Concorde, the supersonic plane, which was designed and built at Filton. Trustees say two-thirds of the £12 million needed for a permanent museum has now been raised. Richard Payne reports.

The Director of the Bristol Aero Collection Trust says he is 'delighted' that plans to build a £13.5m Aerospace Centre in Filton has received initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

We’re delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this support.

The Bristol Aerospace Centre at Filton will provide enormous opportunities for people to learn about our industrial aviation heritage and social history, as well as encouraging people to get involved through volunteering and the development of new skills.

It is great to know that we are a major step closer towards meeting our ambitions.”

– Lloyd Burnell, Project Director of the Trust

The Centre will provide a heritage centre, technology learning centre and a permanent home for supersonic airliner Concorde, which was largely built and designed at the Filton site.

Bristol has a unique aviation history and this is the perfect opportunity to reconnect the community and wider public with the important story of the aircraft that were developed here and the people that created them.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is pleased to be able to offer its initial support for this project and will be working closely with Bristol Aero Collection Trust as they develop their plans further.

A preservation group dedicated to saving Concorde has reacted angrily to news that its offer to house the historic aircraft has been turned down.

The Save Concorde group says it could build a basic hanger far quicker and cheaper than current proposals for a museum at Filton, where the last Concorde to fly has been standing outdoors for the past ten years.

Instead the owners, British Airways, are backing a rival bid for a £12 million scheme now the subject of a revised application for lottery money.